President Phuc made the statement during his separate meetings with President of the U.N. General Assembly Abdulla Shahid and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in New York on September 21.
He told the two U.N. leaders that Vietnam is exerting utmost efforts in the fight against COVID-19, and putting the safety and health of the people first. He asked the U.N. to continue supporting Vietnam during this difficult time, especially in the vaccination drive.
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President Nguyen Xuan Phuc (L) and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres |
Phuc highlighted that Vietnam has always made effective contributions to the common affairs of the U.N., including taking on the role of a non-permanent member of the U.N. Security Council for the 2020-2021 term, participating in peacekeeping operations, implementing the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, participating in elections to U.N. organizations and contributing to reform efforts to improve performance of the organization.
Discussing regional and international issues, the two sides emphasized the need to continue strengthening multilateralism with the U.N. playing a central role, and speeding up the implementation of the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development, and the Paris Agreement on climate change.
They agreed to strengthen cooperation between the U.N. and ASEAN, promote ASEAN's central role in solving regional issues, and support efforts of the bloc and relevant countries in maintaining peace and stability in the region, upholding respect for international law, especially the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982.
The U.N. leaders said that they are impressed by Vietnam's socio-economic development achievements and appreciated the country’s increasing role and position in the region and in the international arena. They spoke highly of Vietnam's active, responsible and effective contributions to the U.N.'s common affairs, especially as a non-permanent member of the U.N. Security Council as well as in joining U.N. peacekeeping missions, and implementing sustainable development goals and climate goals.
The U.N. Secretary-General affirmed that the organization will continue to pay attention to and support Vietnam's response to the pandemic, and always stand side-by-side and assist the country in post-pandemic socio-economic recovery and development.
He also expressed his wish that Vietnam will contribute more to climate change response efforts, especially raising its commitments to reducing greenhouse gas emissions towards the COP26 Conference in November 2021 in Glasgow (Scotland-U.K.).
Source: VNA